Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 6 April (WA 219) concerning consultants employed by the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, when Donall O Riagáin first gave advice to the department; on what topics; and whether any of his days' consultations were for e-mail and telephone consultations.

Baroness Amos: Mr Donall O Riagáin first provided advice to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in August 2000. He has provided advice on the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and on a business case for the Ulster-Scots Academy. Mr O Riagáin has provided advice by e-mail and telephone.

Northern Ireland Civil Servants: Legal Representation

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Under what terms Northern Ireland civil servants are able to obtain legal representation by the Crown for cases arising from actions taken in the course of their duties; how these terms differ between Northern Ireland Civil Service departments; and what are the corresponding terms applicable to civil servants seconded to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Baroness Amos: The NICS policy in relation to publicly funded legal action is contained in the Staff Handbook. The policy applies to all NICS civil servants uniformly across the departments/agencies, including those seconded to the PSNI. Civil servants may be granted legal representation, or some or all of their legal costs at public expense. The decision to fund is based on the merits of an individual case and depends on the act in question being committed within the scope of the officer's employment and whether it is in the department/agencies' interests to grant assistance.

Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill

Earl Russell: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On what basis they have calculated the number of cases that they believe the High Court will have to deal with as a result of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The number of cases expected to be dealt with at the High Court has been calculated using current and anticipated caseload and behaviour including rates of appeal and statutory review applications.

Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill

Earl Russell: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What additional resources, if any, are to be allocated to the Lord Chief Justice to allow his courts to administer the new tasks proposed in the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The Government are analysing the resource impact to the system as a whole, including the Administrative Court, and will ensure that the respective areas of the court system are resourced to deal with any additional workload and process changes required to run the new appeals system.

Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill

Earl Russell: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How the contribution of lay members in the Immigration Appeal Tribunal is to be continued in the future.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: Clause 14 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill establishes a single tier tribunal to replace the current two tier system. When the new tribunal is brought into force, Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the Bill provides that adjudicators and legally qualified members of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal (IAT) will transfer automatically to the new tribunal. The Lord Chancellor has informed the House that the new tribunal should comprise legally qualified members only and that Government do not intend to deploy lay members.

Population Aged 18 Years

Baroness Seccombe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the number of 18-year-olds in the population in each of the years from 1992 to 2004.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the National Statistician, Len Cook, dated May 2004.
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question concerning the population of 18 year olds. (HL2724)
	The attached table shows population estimates, for England and Wales, from mid-1992 to mid-2002. The latest year for which population estimates are available is 2002. Mid-year population projections have therefore been provided for 2003 and 2004.
	The mid-1992 to mid-2000 population estimates for England and Wales are interim revised population estimates. They are subject to revision later in 2004.
	
		Estimated  1  and projected  2  population aged 18 years -- England and Wales, 1992–2004thousands
		
			 Year Population 
			 1992 635.3 
			 1993 609.3 
			 1994 584.6 
			 1995 565.1 
			 1996 572.1 
			 1997 615.6 
			 1998 638.6 
			 1999 643.7 
			 2000 608.2 
			 2001 628.7 
			 2002 649.2 
			 2003 679 
			 2004 676 
		
	
	Sources:
	Office for National Statistics 1
	Government Actuary's Department 2
	1. Estimates for 1992–2002
	2. Projections for 2003 and 2004

Sasser Worm Attack

Lord Harris of Haringey: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the National Infrastructure Co-ordination Centre first became aware of the Sasser worm attack; and when it first issued an alert to systems that make up the United Kingdom Critical National Infrastructure; and
	Given that Microsoft had made available on 12 April a patch that would have prevented the Sasser worm attack, what steps were taken by the National Infrastructure Co-ordination Centre to ensure that all systems that make up the United Kingdom Critical National Infrastructure had installed this patch; and
	Whether Coastguard Service is regarded as part of the United Kingdom Critical National Infrastructure; and if so, what were the reasons for the service falling victim to the Sasser worm attack.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: On receipt of the bulletin from Microsoft, the National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre (NISCC) issued a briefing to the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) on 13 April at 19:15, giving details of the threat to systems posed by Sasser. This was followed by a further three alerts issued on 19, 23 and 30 April, warning of the potential of a worm and advising system owners to apply the patch that Microsoft had made available. Additional bulletins were issued on 1 and 3 May as the situation developed.
	NISCC has no regulatory authority and therefore can only inform system owners that patches are available and advise them that these patches should be applied.
	The Coastguard Service is part of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which in turn is part of the Department for Transport, and forms part of the Critical National Infrastructure. The MCA is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the infection.

Sudden Adult Death Syndrome

Lord Eames: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, in the light of recent deaths of sports personalities in Northern Ireland, they will institute and encourage scientific investigation of the condition referred to as sudden adult death syndrome.

Lord Warner: On 12 March 2004, the Government announced that a new National Service Framework chapter on arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death would be published within one year.
	An expert group has been formed to investigate these conditions and produce this chapter, and will be considering what further research may be needed on these issues.

Alcohol Treatment Centres

Lord Dixon: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 20 April (WA 31), which local authorities in the north-east region contribute along with the National Health Service to the funding of alcohol treatment centres.

Lord Warner: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Dental Services

Lord Colwyn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 17 March (WA 53), what mechanisms are in place to ensure that primary care trusts provide primary dental services to homeless people; and what action will be taken if it is found that these services have been reduced due to lack of use.

Lord Warner: National Health Service primary dental services may be accessed through General Dental Services, Dental Access Centres or through the Community Dental Service. There is no reason why homeless people should not be eligible to receive NHS primary dental care in any of these ways.
	Under the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003, primary care trusts will have new responsibilities to provide or commission primary dental services in their area to meet all reasonable requirements. With this new duty will go the £1.3 billion (2003–04) currently held centrally. In this way PCTs, will be better able to match resources to the local oral health need. The PCTs will be performance managed by their strategic health authority in relation to their dental function, as they are in relation to other statutory functions.

Dental Services

Lord Colwyn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 9 March (WA 160), which countries they intend to contact in order actively to recruit dentists; and whether they will provide details of any agreements.

Lord Warner: We have been making contact with accession states through our embassies. The Minister of State for Health, Mr John Hutton, recently visited Poland, the largest of the accession states, and secured an agreement for a programme of managed recruitment. We are developing plans to take this forward.

Dental Services

Lord Colwyn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 9 March (WA 160), what discussions they have had with the British Dental Association and the General Dental Council regarding the movement of dental personnel to the United Kingdom from European Union accession countries; and what is the number of dental personnel from European Union accession countries aiming to come to work in the United Kingdom after 1 May 2004.

Lord Warner: There are dentists from the accession states who would be interested in coming to work in England. We are exploring these possibilities, but have not at this stage tried to estimate numbers. Poland which is the largest of the accession states has agreed to a programme of managed recruitment. We have had discussion with the General Dental Council to ensure that the processes for dentists from the new accession states wishing to join the GDC register are clear and straightforward.

Dental Services

Lord Colwyn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 17 March (WA 52), whether dentists are still being encouraged to take up Personal Dentist Service (PDS) contracts in the context of the field sites as specified in the new dental contract of 2005.

Lord Warner: Contracts for "Options for Change" remuneration field sites are based on over five years of successful piloting of Personal Dental Service contracts but will reflect the particular circumstances of these practices and the models they are designed to test out.
	The base contract designed for local contracting of dentistry is modelled on the PDS contract and interest in moving to the PDS in advance of the new contract has increased in recent months. We have received and are processing applications to move over 350 dental practices to PDS.
	For those dentists who want to change from the General Dental Service item of service system, we will continue to support them to move into PDS arrangements. This option is open to all dentists and currently we have three-month turn-around time from receipt of application to approval.

Human Tissue Bill

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is meant in Schedule 2 to the Human Tissue Bill, which states that no member of the Human Tissue Authority should have a professional interest in any of the kinds of activity within the remit of the Authority; and
	Why it is proposed that the chairman of the Human Tissue Authority should have no professional interest in any of the kinds of activity within the remit of the authority; and
	Whether the members of the proposed Human Tissue Authority will be paid for their services; and, if so, why.

Lord Warner: Schedule 2 to the Human Tissue Bill states that the Human Tissue Authority will consist of a lay chair, and members appointed by the Secretary of State for Health for limited periods. The membership would comprise people with relevant professional experience, but not less than half will be lay members. The Government believe that in this way the authority will be able to build confidence among both professionals and the public in the donation and use of human tissue. Paragraph 10 of Schedule 2 allows the chair and members of the authority to be paid such remuneration as the Secretary of State may determine. It is standard practice that members of executive bodies receive remuneration for the contribution that they make.

Human Tissue Bill

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why the Human Tissue Bill proposes the creation of two inspectorate boards rather than one.

Lord Warner: The Human Tissue Bill proposes the creation of a Human Tissue Authority with a remit covering removal, storage, use and disposal of human material. Compliance with relevant codes of practice, licence conditions and directions would be monitored through regular inspections. The Bill proposes the creation of an inspectorate of organs and tissue for human use, with a remit covering transplantation, and an inspectorate of anatomy and pathology, covering other uses of human tissue regulated under the Bill. This division reflects the different quality and safety issues, and the diverse technical, ethical, and administrative considerations and expertise required in each case.

General Practitioners

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many general practitioner principals or salaried general practitioners (excluding trainee general practitioners), both in absolute numbers and numbers per population, have been employed full time in England and Wales in the years 1997 to date.

Lord Warner: Information on the number of headcount and whole time equivalent general practitioners (excluding GP retainers and GP registrars) per 100,000 population in England and Wales each year since 1997 is shown in table 1.
	The number of GPs working full time and part time in England and Wales is shown in table 2.
	
		Table 1: General practitioners  1  headcount and whole time equivalent in England and Wales, 1997–2003 -- Number (Headcount)
		
			  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003 
			  Number Number per 100,000 population Number Number per 100,000 population Number Number per 100,000 population Number Number per 100,000 population Number Number per 100,000 population Number Number per 100,000 population Number Number per 100,000 population 
			 England GP Headcount 28,046 57.67 28,251 57.90 28,467 58.11 28,593 58.16 28,802 58.32 29,202 58.92 30,358 61.02 
			 England GP Whole Time Equivalent 26,359 54.20 26,455 54.22 26,558 54.21 26,557 54.01 26,628 53.91 26,833 54.14 27,624 55.52 
			 Wales GP Headcount 1,779 61.51 1,778 61.39 1,792 61.85 1,795 61.81 1,807 62.15 1,808 61.94 1,822 62.29 
			 Wales GP Whole 
			 Time Equivalent 1,679 58.05 1,674 57.80 1,685 58.15 1,681 57.88 1,681 57.83 1,679 57.51 1,680 57.42 
		
	
	
		Table 2: General practitioners  1  by commitment in England and Wales, 1997–2003
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
			 England Full Time 23,328 23,217 23,160 22,984 22,785 22,584 22,848 
			 England Part Time 4,718 5,034 5,307 5,609 6,017 6,618 7,510 
			 Wales Full Time 1,497 1,485 1,489 1,471 1,451 1,442 1,419 
			 Wales Part Time 282 293 303 324 356 366 403 
		
	
	Notes:
	1 GPs excluding GP retainers and GP registrars.
	Data as at 1 October 1997–99, 30 September 2000–03.
	Source:
	Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.
	2001 ONS Population Census.
	2002 ONS Based resident population projections for mid year 2003.

Department of Health: "Arm's Length Bodies"

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many quangos for which the Department of Health is responsible have been created since 1997.

Lord Warner: On 1 June 1997 there were 52 non-departmental public bodies and 13 special health authorities. The comparable figures at 1 April 2004 were 49 and 21 respectively.

Continence Services

Earl Howe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many integrated continence services have been established to date in line with the Older People's National Service Framework.

Lord Warner: Implementing this milestone and monitoring progress is the responsibility of strategic health authorities. Monitoring information on progress with this milestone is not collected centrally.

Organic Crops: Use of Pesticides

Lord Rotherwick: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which pesticides are permitted on organic crops.

Lord Whitty: The pesticides currently permitted under the European regulation on organic production, Regulation (EEC)2092/91, can be found in the following tables taken from Annex II part B of the regulation.
	They may be used in the UK only in so far as approval is given for their use under the relevant UK legislation.  indicates the active ingredients that are currently approved pesticide products for use in agriculture, horticulture or the home garden in the UK.
	Annex II
	B Pesticides
	1. Substances of crop or animal origin.
	
		
			 Name Description; compositionalrequirements; conditions for use 
			 Azadirachtin extracted from zadirachta indica.  
			 (Neem tree) Insecticide 
			 Need recognised by inspection body 
			 (*) Beeswax Pruning Agent 
			 Gelatine Insecticide 
			 (*) Hydrolysed proteins Attractant 
			 Only in authorised applications in combination with other appropriate products of this Annex II, part B 
			 Lecithin Fungicide 
			 Plant oils (e.g. mint oil, pine oil, caraway oil) Insecticide, acaricide, fungicide and sprout inhibitor 
			  Pyrethrins extracted from Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium. Insecticide 
			 Need recognised by inspection body 
			 Quassia extracted from Quassia amara. Insecticide, repellent 
			  Rotenone extracted from Derris spp. and Lonchocarpus spp. and Terphrosia spp. Insecticide 
			 Need recognised by inspection body 
		
	
	II. Micro-organisms used for biological pest control
	
		
			 Name Description; compositional   requirements; conditions for use 
			 Micro-organisms (bacteria, viruses and fungi) e.g.  Bacillus thuringensis, Granulosis virus, etc. Only products not genetically modified in the meaning of Directive 90/220/EEC 1 
		
	
	1 OJ No L117, 8.5.1990, p. 15.
	III. Substances to be used in traps and/or dispensers
	General conditions:
	the traps and/or dispensers must prevent the penetration of the substances in the environment and prevent contact of the substances with the crops under cultivation.
	the traps must be collected after use and disposed of safely.
	
		
			 Name Description; compositional  requirements; conditions for use 
			 (*) Diammonium phosphate Attractantonly in traps 
			  Metaldehyde Molluscicideonly in traps containing a repellent to higher animal speciesonly during a period expiring 31 March 2006 
			 Pheromones Attractant; sexual behaviour disrupteronly in traps and dispensers 
			 Pyrethroids (only deltamethrin or lambdacyhalothrin) Insecticideonly in traps with specific attractants;only against Batrocera oleae and Ceratitis capitata wiedNeed recognised by inspection body 
		
	
	(*) In certain Member States the products [market] with (*) are not considered as plant protection products and are not subject to the provisions of the plant protection products legislation.
	IIIA. Preparations to be surface-spread between cultivated plants
	
		
			 Name Description; compositionalrequirements; conditions for use 
			  Iron (III) orthophosphate Molluscicide 
		
	
	IV. Other substances from traditional use in organic farming
	
		
			 Name Description; compositional   requirements; conditions for use 
			 Copper in the form ofcopper hydroxide,copper oxychloride, (tribasic)  copper sulphate, cuprous oxide Fungicide   Until 31 December 2005 up to a maximum of 8 kg copper per hectare per year, and from 1 January 2006 up to 6 kg copper per ha per year, without prejudice to a more limited quantity if laid down under the specific terms of the general legislation on plant protection products in the Member State where the product is to be used.  For perennial crops, Member States may, by derogation to the previous paragraph, provide that the maximum levels apply as follows:   the total maximum quantity used from March 2002 until 31 December 2006 shall not exceed 38 kg copper per ha;   from 1 January 2007, the maximum quantity which may be used each year per ha shall be calculated by subtracting the quantities actually used in the 4 preceding years from, respectively, 36, 34, 32 and 30 kg copper for the years 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and following years.   Need recognised by the inspection body 
			  (*) Ethylene Degreening bananas 
			  Fatty acid potassium salt (soft soap) Insecticide 
			 (*) Potassium alum (Kalinite) Prevention of ripening of bananas 
			 Lime sulphur (Calcium polysulphide) Fungicide, insecticide, acaricide   Need recognised by inspection body 
			  Paraffin oil Insecticide, acaricide 
			 Mineral Oils Insecticide, fungicide   only in fruit trees, vines, olive trees and tropical crops (e.g. bananas)   Need recognised by inspection body 
			 Potassium permanganate Fungicide, bactericide   only in fruit trees, olive trees and vines 
			 (*) Quartz sand Repellent 
			  Sulphur Fungicide, acaricide, repellent 
		
	
	(*) In certain Member States the products marked with (*) are not considered as plant protection products and are not subject to the provisions of the plant protection products legislation.
	2. Products for pest and disease control in livestock buildings and installations:
	Products listed in section 1 of Annex IIB.
	Rodenticides